Until I Find My Way Back To You: Book 2
by captainwhiteshadow
Summary: Book 2: Death Toll. A cure has been found! Can the survivors get to Riverside, get the cure, and get out alive? And what happened to Zack and Samantha? Will Zack and Zoey find each other again? NOTICE: NEVER MIND WHAT I SAID EARLIER, NOTHING CHANGED.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I didn't own it in the last story, so do you honestly think I gained rights to Left 4 Dead since then? If so, then PUT. THE. CRACKPIPE. DOWN.**

**A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back! And I dragged the sequel along with me! Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't make the sequel for a while, but I can't really think of any other fanfics I wanna work on at the moment. Although I should work on my Pokemon one…aw, screw that. Anyway, enjoy!**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 1: A Cure?**

_**(Zoey's P.O.V)**_

It had been a week now since we escaped that horrible forest. Well…by _'we'_ I mean Bill, Francis, Louis and I. My beloved Zack, who had been turned into a Hunter, stayed behind to protect a friend of his named Samantha, who was a Witch. My heart had ached when I realized what he was going to do, but I knew it had to be done. I wouldn't have wanted to leave a friend behind either.

We had been taken to a protected military base that was set up in what remained of Ridgeville, Pennsylvania. I was elated to see other survivors. Finally, we were back in some form of civilization.

_But…without Zack, what's the point…?_ I thought to myself solemnly.

Currently, I was in a room I shared with a girl named Molly Sanders. She had short, blonde hair that was cut in a bob. Her eyes were a hazel color, her skin was almost as pale as the moon, and she was a few inches shorter than me. She was generally a nice girl, kind of shy, and somewhat of a bookworm. She and I had become friends pretty fast.

"Hey, Zoey?" Molly spoke up, sitting cross-legged on her bed. She held a leather-bound, gold-titled book in her hands. Her half-cut glasses hung loosely on the bridge of her nose.

I lay on my bed, with my hands behind my head and my eyes turned toward her. "Hm?"

"Um…" she fidgeted a little with the hem of the long white shirt she wore for sleeping in. A faint tint of red stained her cheeks as she looked down at the floor. "Who…who was that business man you came here with?"

I blinked. "Louis? What about him?"

"Louis…" she repeated the name. "I thought I recognized him."

I was interested now, so I sat up with my legs crossed. "You know him?"

She nodded. "We went to the same high school together. I haven't seen him since graduation."

I smiled a little. "That's cool. You should go talk to him."

Molly bit her lip a little. "I…I don't think that would be such a great idea."

I blinked and cocked my head to the side. "How come?"

"Well…" she rubbed her arm a little, "…I kinda…broke his heart."

I frowned a little. "How did that happen?" It wasn't really my business, but I was curious.

"He asked me to prom," Molly began. "I was a sophomore at the time, so I couldn't go unless a junior or senior asked me. I said yes…but then…" she trailed off.

I stared, waiting for her to continue. After almost a minute, I spoke up. "Then what happened?"

Molly seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She looked back at me and smiled apologetically. Her smile faded. "But there was this guy on the basketball team. He was very tall and handsome. His name was Richard. I had had a crush on him for a while, but he had never noticed me before. So I had decided it best to just move on, and Louis was a nice guy anyway. I had learned from some of his friends that Louis had liked me for about a year, so I thought 'Hey, maybe he's the right guy for me.' And so, we started dating for a while after prom."

I kept listening to Molly's story. I thought it was cute: a high school crush. I had never imagined Louis to be that sort of guy. But…I had a pretty good idea of where this story was going.

Molly took a deep breath and continued. "It was over summer break that I got invited to a party at one of my friend's house. I normally wasn't very outgoing, but I thought I needed a break from the everyday life. So I went and…I saw Richard there. He looked even more handsome than he did back in school. I had mistakenly drunk some sort of alcohol, thinking it was juice, and I got a little drunk. Richard…he…he started flirting with me. And I couldn't deny that I still had feelings for him, so I flirted back. We went upstairs and started making out. I had completely forgotten about Louis for the moment…that is, until he opened the door. I tried to explain, but he was furious. He told me that he loved me, and asked me how I could do this to him. And then he started yelling at Richard, and that's when I found out…"

I leaned a little closer, drawn into the story. "Found out what?"

She closed her eyes and sniffled a little. When she opened them again, they were red and puffy. "Richard was Louis's brother."

I gasped a little. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. "That's awful!"

Molly frowned and looked ashamed. "I know…and if I could go back, I would never hurt Louis."

I frowned. She seemed genuinely sorry. "Well, then you've got to tell him. Tell him you're sorry for hurting him."

Molly bit her lip again—a bad little habit she had. "But…what would I say? What if he hates me?"

I sighed and leaned back a little, staring up at the ceiling. "Well, then he has every right to."

Molly flinched a little, but that was an expected reaction. Suddenly, the single phone that was placed on a nightstand in between our beds started to ring. I picked it up, wondering who would be calling at nine-o-clock at night.

"Hello?" I asked.

"_Zoey? It's Francis._"

"Francis? Why are you calling so late?" I asked.

"_It's that Samuel guy,_" Francis replied, talking about the military General, Samuel Hawking, we had met on our first day here. "_He says he wants to speak with you, me, Louis, and Gramps._"

I rolled my eyes at Francis's nickname for Bill. He would often call him that, to which Bill would throw back some witty comment, making Francis look like an idiot.

"Alright, I'll be there soon," I replied, hanging up.

"Who was that?" Molly asked.

"A friend of mine. He says General Hawking wants to see me," I replied, pulling on a green t-shirt and black jeans. My hair was down from its usual ponytail. "I'll be back soon."

And with that said, I grabbed my room keys and walked out the door. The white halls of the building I resided in reminded me of the college dorms I used to live in. Several doors lined the walls, leading into rooms occupied with survivors. I walked out the main door and stepped out into the cool night air. I took a deep breath and relaxed.

It only took a small trek across the military base to get to a large, metal building with the U.S. government symbol of an eagle on it. Two soldiers positioned as guards let me through and I entered the building. The inside was designed with old maps, war medals, guns, and other things you might find in a General's office.

Bill was dressed in khaki pants and a black, button-up, long-sleeved shirt. He stood next to Louis, who was dressed in a red, sleeveless shirt and a pair of jeans. I was surprised to see that he actually had pretty well-toned arms—he must have worked out. Francis stood leaning against the wall opposite from my two other companions. He still wore his old, denim biker jacket and a black t-shirt underneath, with a pair of black jeans.

I walked over to Louis, who greeted me with a smile. I smiled back and leaned up against the wall. General Hawking, who was sitting in a leather chair behind his desk, smiled slightly at seeing all of us gathered. I remembered the first time I saw him. I was shocked to find out that he was a General, since he was only in about his mid-thirties. I had heard he was a war genius. And to top it all off, he was quite handsome with his short, blonde hair, high cheek bones, pale skin, blue eyes, and a full set of white teeth. Although, I still thought my Zack was more handsome.

I frowned a little, thinking of him.

"Good evening, everyone," General Hawking greeted with a small smile. "I apologize for calling you all out here so late."

"What is it you needed us for, General?" Bill asked, his tone full of respect.

"Right," General Hawking started, getting to the point. "I have recently received news from one of our other bases that there might be a cure to this infection."

Everyone's eyes, including mine, widened.

"Are you serious?" Louis asked in astonishment.

General Hawking nodded. "There's a group of scientists in a lab set up in Riverside. They've been studying each type of Infected for a while now, and they think they may have found a solution."

"What is it?" Francis asked, crossing his arms.

"The cure…" Hawking said, "…is in your blood."

"Our…blood?" Bill repeated.

"Yes," General Hawking replied. "You have all been attacked; bitten even, by the Infected, correct?"

"Well, yeah…" Louisa responded.

"And you're still human, correct?" Hawking pressed.

"Huh, I never noticed that," Francis stated. "We should have become Infected like the others. Somethin' special about our blood?"

"Exactly!" General Hawking said, his eyes seeming to light up. "You're immune. No matter how much of the Infected's blood or saliva gets into your system, it won't change you. That's the key. The cure is in your blood."

"But," I chimed in, "surely there must have been others besides us with immunity to it."

General Hawking's face showed a slight hint of sadness. "There were a few others. But they were killed before we could rescue them. You four are the only ones left, or at least, the only ones we've found."

I sighed, already knowing what was going to come. It was General Hawking who spoke my very thoughts.

"We need you four to go to Riverside and give our scientists some of your blood to finish the cure with. Once that is done, we can finally end this hellish infection."

Francis scoffed. "Damn, not again. Aw, fine. But I want some good weapons this time, in case we run into those freaks again."

Bill looked like he was about to scold Francis for his rudeness, but General Hawking merely laughed.

"Come now, do you honestly think I would send the world's only hope for survival off to fight the Infected without even a way to defend themselves?" he asked. "I will have two of my soldiers escort you there, and you will have weapons and health kits ready and waiting. Will you all be ready in two days?"

Bill nodded, speaking for everyone. "Two days should be long enough. You can count on us to bring them the cure."

General Hawking smiled, flashing his pearly white teeth. "Perfect."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Hey! Guess what, everyone! I own Left 4 Dead now! (Phone rings) Huh? Who could that be? (Answers phone) Hello?...Uh-huh…yeah…oh…okay then, bye. (Hangs up) Nevermind, everyone. That was Valve saying they bought Left 4 Dead back. Damn. I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME, LEFT 4 DEAD!**

**A/N: This is kind of a long chapter, so you might wanna get some snacks. Enjoy!**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 2: Looks Can Be Deceiving**

_**(Zack's P.O.V.)**_

"So, how old are you?" Samantha asked me as we rummaged through a pile of clothes that seemed to still be intact. We were currently in an old thrift store.

I smiled a little at what must have been Samantha's hundredth question since I met her. She had been very eager to get to know me this past week and I had learned a lot about her, too. "I'm nineteen," I replied. "How about you?"

"Me?" she asked. "Fifteen, and I'll be sixteen next month."

I laughed a little. "Well, remind me to get you a present."

I caught sight of a dark hoodie. I picked it up and tried it on. It fit just right. I pulled the hood up and turned to Samantha, grinning. "What do you think? Do I look more like a Hunter now?"

Samantha giggled a little, something she only did for me. "You look like a druggie."

"Perfect!" I said, placing my hands on my hips. "I should blend in with the other Hunters now."

Samantha picked up a pair of baggy, green pants with many pockets, and a black, sleeveless basketball shirt with the number 48 printed on the back. She turned to look at me. "Um…my claws make it kind of hard for me to dress myself. Can you help me?"

I gave her an odd look. She must have realized what I was thinking because she shook her head vigorously.

"Not like that! Just help me pull them over my old clothes."

I chuckled a little and walked over to her, taking the shirt out of her hands. "Hold your arms up."

She did as I told her and held her arms up, pressing her claws together to form two spear-like hands. I carefully slipped the shirt over her arms and head. She turned to me and smiled.

"Thanks, Zack. I think I can handle the pants." She grabbed the baggy pants off the floor and slipped her legs through them. They hung loosely on her small hips.

"Hold on," I said, grabbing a belt from a nearby rack. I slipped the leathery material through the belt loops on her pants and tightened it so the pants wouldn't fall down. "There."

We walked out of the store and entered the dead streets of Grovania, Pennsylvania. I wasn't really sure exactly what street we were on—the Infected had taken care of most of the street signs. I kept my hood low, hiding my face as we walked through the streets. Samantha didn't really have to worry, since nobody was after her. She got some odd looks from some of the other Infected though. Seeing a Witch was uncommon, but seeing a Witch dressed in something that made her look kind of like a gangster was even rarer. In fact, I'd have to say Samantha was one of a kind.

"So…" Samantha started, "…where exactly are we going?"

I put my hands in the large front pocket of my hoodie. "Well, our main priority is finding Zoey and the others. But then we have Jerry to worry about. We have to find out what he's up to, and what his next move will be."

Samantha smirked a little. "He's just a Smoker, right? I've heard Hunters are pretty good at tracking people. Why don't we just hunt him down and tear him to shreds?"

An entertaining image of Jerry being hung by his own tongue and Samantha and I each taking turns punching him like a piñata entered my mind. I sighed, reality kicking in. "It's not that easy."

Samantha blinked. "Why not?"

"Well, Smokers are pretty smart and sneaky to begin with," I stated. "And Jerry's got pretty much all the Infected in Pennsylvania backing him up. Tracking him down would be a waste of time at the moment, because his Infected buddies would just slow us down long enough for him to escape and grow more powerful. In order to beat him, we have to know his true motives first. We know he plans on building an army and ruling the world; you know, the usual bad guy scheme. What we _don't_ know is how he plans to do it. I haven't been an Infected for long, but I'm pretty sure they like one of the same things humans do: freedom. Jerry's lucky he's gotten as many followers as he has. I doubt he could get all the Infected in the world to follow him. That is, unless he's got something up his sleeve."

Samantha just stared at me in astonishment. "Wow. You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

I grinned and put my hands behind my head. "Yeah, well, I do a lot of stuff since I can't sleep."

"Hey!" a voice called out.

Samantha and I stopped dead in our tracks, wondering if we'd been caught. A fellow Hunter walked up to us and grinned.

"You're new around here, aren't you?" he asked, speaking to me.

"We just arrived here last night," I replied, trying to get around the guy. He wouldn't let me pass.

"Hey, wait, I wanted to ask you something," he said.

"What?" I replied, keeping my face hidden in the shadows of my hood.

"Did you see that Tank fight this morning?" the Hunter asked.

He was referring to an all-out brawl between two Tanks that occurred this morning. It wasn't a fight out of anger. More like one for entertainment. It was sometimes fun for Infected to spar with each other, and it was entertaining for the crowds, too.

"We saw a little of it," Samantha said. "It was cool."

The Hunter grinned. "Hell yeah it was! Hey, by the way, did you catch the name of the Tank with that X-shaped scar on his chest?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, I missed most of the fight."

The Hunter frowned a bit. "Oh, well thanks anyway. I was just wondering because my little bro is a fan of his. He fights a lot, and he gets his inspiration from that guy. So I told him I'd get him an autograph."

"We could get you one," Samantha suggested.

Before I could protest and say we didn't have time, the Hunter grinned and said, "That'd be great! I'd really appreciate it."

Not wanting to turn the guy down, I sighed. "So, where does this guy live?"

"I think he lives somewhere downtown," the Hunter replied.

"Okay, we'll find him," Samantha replied. We started to walk away when he called out to us.

"Hey."

We turned to face him. He stared at me for a moment.

"Have I…seen you somewhere before?" he asked me.

I stiffened a little, but quickly relaxed. He didn't seem to notice my tension. "Nope. I don't think so."

We left quickly before anyone else could bother us. Most of the buildings in this town were run down and smashed in various parts. It would be kind of hard to tell which part was the downtown area.

I sniffed the air, looking for the right scent. I had grown accustomed to the different smells of the Infected. Hunters smelled similar to rotten eggs; like marijuana. Smokers smelled like smoke, obviously. Boomers smelled like three week old fish. Witches, with the exception of Samantha, smelled similar to how blood tastes like to humans: salty and metallic. And Tanks had the strong scent of sweat, blood, and rotting corpses. I had gotten a little more used to the disgusting smells of the Infected.

Than I found what we were looking for. The scent of a Tank. "Got it. Samantha, follow me."

We walked down a street that was less crowded than the others—probably because no one wanted to risk making a Tank mad. Speaking of which, why were _we_ risking out lives to do some random Hunter a favor?

We entered a two story house that was completely dark on the inside. The lights were all smashed, along with most of the furniture. The one thing left intact was a small bookshelf with a lone, knitted doll sitting on it.

"Uh…hello?" I called out. "Is anyone home?"

I knew there was a Tank here. I could smell him from upstairs. I heard him rustling about up there.

"Who is it?" he called back.

I felt a slight rumbling. The Tank came out from around the corner and stared at us from upstairs. His face portrayed complete shock. There was a large, X-shaped scar on his muscular chest. His brown hair was long and shaggy. He wore a pair of jeans, like most of the Tanks I'd seen.

"Visitors?" he said, mostly to himself.

It was silent for a moment. I cleared my throat and decided to speak up. "Hey. Uh, I'm Zack, and this is Samantha. We're here to—"

Before I could finish, the Tank rushed downstairs and stopped in front of me. He grabbed my hand and started shaking it vigorously. A large grin, or what passed for one, was plastered on his face.

"It's so good to have visitors! Most people are afraid of me, so they don't come by," he explained.

He finally let go and I could've sworn my hand was broken. It throbbed in pain, but I knew it would heal within about half an hour.

"Man, that's …uh…quite a grip you've got there, mister…"

"Clark," the Tank said, still grinning.

"Well, um, Clark," Samantha started. "We saw the fight you had earlier this morning. And we ran into this fan of yours. He said he wanted an autograph for his little brother."

"A fan?" Clark said, amazement clear in his expression. "I…have…a…fan?"

In the next three seconds, Clark started jumping around the room in joy, cheering and shouting. The floor rumbled and shook. Samantha and I had to grab onto something steady just to keep from falling. Clark finally settled down and took a deep breath.

"I can't believe it!" He said. "Someone actually likes me!"

"Well, you seem…cheerful," Samantha stated.

Clark scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry. It's just that, I don't get a lot of fans. Most people just run away when they see me. You two are actually the first to come up and talk to me."

"Well, you don't seem like a bad guy," I said. "Hey, why don't you give your fan an autograph in person? That way, you can show people you're not as bad as they think."

Clark grinned. "Okay!"

So we walked out of his house and back down through the city that that looked like something right out of 'Friday the 13th.' Although I'm sure I've seen a lot of things scarier than Freddy Krueger by now. We must have looked like an odd group: a Hunter, a Witch, and a Tank. We got many looks of fear and confusion from the other Infected. Clark seemed a little nervous, so Samantha started talking to him.

"So, what's it like being a Tank?"

Clark grinned and flexed his arm. "The strength is pretty awesome! Although, it's hard for me to walk or stand on my little legs for too long, so I normally use my arms to help me run. Another downside though, is being feared by most of the other Infected."

We reached the place where that Hunter from before was. He was still standing there, but this time there was a smaller boy, around the age of ten. He wasn't a special Infected, just one of the common ones that roamed the streets. He had red hair with brown eyes. His face lit up when he saw Clark.

"Wow! It's really you!" the boy shouted.

"Hey, it seems you found the guy," the Hunter said. "Everyone, this is my little brother, Jacob."

Jacob walked up to Clark and smiled. "I'm your biggest fan! I'm so glad to meet you!"

Clark chuckled a little. "Thanks. I'm Clark, by the way. So, you wanted an autograph?"

"Yeah," Jacob replied. He pointed to a house I assumed was where he lived. "Could you smash a hole in my wall? Then I could tell all my friends that the great Clark smashed my wall, and they'd be so psyched!"

Clark, Samantha and I all blinked in unison. For a moment, I wondered if this kid really was a "special" Infected.

"Uh…well, if you say so," Clark said. He walked over to the wall and cocked his fist back. "Here we go!" He threw his fist forward and in the next second, a gigantic hole appeared in the wall.

"Awesome!" Jacob shouted, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Well, I'm glad I could make a fan happy!" Clark said happily.

"Hey!" a voice shouted angrily.

We all turned to see a fuming Smoker. His teeth were clinched. "What the fuck did you do to my wall?!"

Suddenly, the Hunter and his brother started laughing hard. My eyes widened in realization. We'd been tricked.

"Oh my God!" the Hunter said, rolling on the ground from laughing so hard. "That was great!"

"That'll teach you not to mess with us, Kyle!" Jacob shouted to the Smoker.

Suddenly, a bunch of other Smokers appeared all around us. They must have been his family. We were outnumbered.

"Uh-oh," Jacob said. He hopped onto his brother's back as they prepared to take off. "Heh, see ya, losers!"

And then we were left alone with at least ten angry Smokers.

"Perfect," Samantha said, readying her claws. "I love a challenge."

"Not today," I said as I swept her up onto my back. "Run!"

And we did. Clark ran right next to us. Tentacle-like tongues flew at us from all sides, but we narrowly dodged them. Samantha swiped at the ones that got to close, and Clark wasn't that easy to take down, so we didn't need to worry about him. We turned into an alley. Two Smokers were running after us. Clark grabbed a dumpster and threw it backwards, knocking out both the Infected.

There was a large brick wall coming up. I jumped over it easily, and Clark just smashed right through it like it was paper. We kept running, not even caring if the Smokers were still following us. We stopped about ten minutes later, when we were far enough away from the city, to catch out breath. I set Samantha down and panted a little. I looked over at Clark, and he looked disappointed.

"It was all just a trick," he said, downheartedly. "There was never any fan."

"Hey, don't let it get you down," I said. "So we were tricked. Who cares? You don't need jackass fans like that."

"Yeah," Samantha said. "You can stick with us. We're friends now."

Clark looked over at us. His eyes started welling up with tears, but a huge smile was plastered on his face. "F-Friends?"

In the next second, we were suddenly caught up in Clark's massive bear hug. He swung us around in joy and shouting about finally having friends.

"O-Okay, Clark," I said. "Can't…breath!"

He quickly set us down. "Oh, sorry!"

Samantha dusted herself off. I caught my breath once again and looked up at the big, grinning Tank. "Well, glad to have you as a friend, Clark."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I am currently working on my master plan to steal the rights to Left 4 Dead. But for now, it remains in the hands of Valve.**

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in about a week. I'm moving, so I don't have much time to work on the story right now. When I'm done though, I'll have much more time. =D Enjoy!**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 3: The Road to Riverside**

_**(Zoey's P.O.V)**_

I woke up to the smell of breakfast being cooked. Getting up out of bed, I walked into the kitchen to find Molly frying some eggs in a pan.

She turned her head and smiled when she saw me. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

I stretched and yawned. "Well enough."

I walked over to the pantry and grabbed the bread out of it. Taking out two pieces, one for each of us, I walked over to the toaster and plopped them in.

"So today's the day you leave for Riverside, huh?" Molly said, a little saddened. "You're very brave. I'd never want to go back out there with all those…_things_…roaming around."

I sighed and sat down at the table. I combed my fingers through my messy hair, and left my hand there to lean my head on. "It's not that I want to…" I half-lied, my only reason for wanting to go being the chance that I might find Zack, "…but I have to. A potential cure for this whole mess is in my blood."

Molly nodded. "I understand. But…it will be kind of lonely around here. You have to promise you'll come back."

I smiled slightly. Molly was like a little kid. "You know I can't really do that."

She smiled sadly as she filled two plates with eggs. "I know. But be careful."

The toast popped up and Molly grabbed them on her way back to the table. We ate in silence for the most part. Afterwards, I washed off my dish and put it away.

After a quick shower, I got dressed and got all my stuff ready for the possibly long journey ahead. I said goodbye to Molly and felt my stomach clinch in nervousness as I walked out the door. I took a deep breath and headed for General Hawking's office.

There were two soldiers and an armored car that was similar to the one we used to escape the farm, waiting outside of the office. Bill, Francis and Louis were there, too. Bill was dressed in his army uniform, which he had gotten repaired while we were here. Francis and Louis were also dressed in soldier uniforms for some reason.

I smirked. "Hey, Louis, what's with the getup?"

He grinned at me. "Hey, Zoey! These? We have to wear them for when we get to Riverside to show that we're the ones with the immunity."

Francis scratched his ass. "Man, these things are itchy."

A soldier walked up to me and handed me a uniform of my own. "Here, take these. You can pull them on over your normal clothes on the way there. We have to leave now if we want to get there before nightfall."

"Why would it take so long?" I questioned.

"Because," he replied, "most of the main roads have been blocked. We have to take a long detour set up by the U.S. government."

I blinked. "Is the president still alive?"

"Yes. He is in hiding at the moment. Where exactly, is confidential information," he replied.

We walked back to the armored car and all of us got in, with us riding in the back and the two soldiers up front. I sat next to Louis on one side, while Bill and Francis sat on the other. Louis helped me strap on the under armor, and I pulled the camouflage jacket on over it. Next were the pants and a vest with many pockets on it. There was a holster for a gun on the front of the vest, along with several other pockets for supplies. There were even a few smoke bombs in one.

The car started moving seconds later. It was quiet, aside from the sound of tires rolling over the rocky ground. For once, Bill didn't have a cigarette in his mouth—but of course, even he should know that there's a time and place for everything. Francis sat with his arms crossed, leaning up against the metal wall of the car, and trying to get some sleep. Louis looked a little nervous, but he was obviously trying to hide most of it. There were no windows in the back of this armored car, so I couldn't look out at the scenery…but then again, I wasn't sure that I wanted to.

We sat in the back of the car for about half an hour before Louis spoke up. "Man, this ride is boring."

"Well, kid, just be glad you're not outside, fighting a horde of Infected…yet," Bill said.

"Yeah, but still…" Louis replied.

"Hey, how about we tell stories to pass the time?" I suggested.

It was silent for a moment. Bill shrugged. Louis grinned. Francis ripped ass and snorted in his sleep.

"Okay, sure, kid. Got any good ones?" Bill asked.

"Hmm…" I thought about it for a moment. "Okay! Since I'm a horror movie fan, I've got some good, scary ones."

Bill sighed. "Not much is scary anymore, after what we've been through."

"I still wanna hear it," Louis replied.

I smiled at him. My face then turned serious, and I lowered my voice to make it sound as dark and sinister as possible. "It was almost the end of the 2007-2008 school year for the students of Coronado High School in Arizona, and they were planning on going on an end of the year camping trip up in California. When they arrived there, they were greeted by the camp counselors and shown to their cabins. However, what seemed like a fun and exciting fieldtrip…was about to turn into a nightmare for Jimmy Harrison.

"Jimmy was staying in cabin 12 with his group. His best friend, Quincy Nash, was staying in there with him. Quincy had been here the year before, so he had shown Jimmy around. It was late that night when Quincy decided to try and scare his friend. 'Hey, Jimmy, you awake?' he asked from his top bunk. 'Yeah, why?' Jimmy replied from below. 'Oh, I was just making sure _he_ didn't get you,' Quincy said. Jimmy, being the easily scared person he was, asked, 'He?' Quincy smiled, knowing his plan was working. 'Yeah, haven't you heard the stories?' he asked. Jimmy felt a bead of sweat flow down his forehead. 'No,' he replied.

"Quincy had told Jimmy about a boy who was brutally beaten and then tortured with knives last year. The boy was then stabbed repeatedly all over and stuffed under the floorboards of the cabin they were staying in now. The trip had been canceled and all the students went home immediately. Jimmy listened, his panic growing. 'Dude, shut up!' he whispered. 'You know I hate ghost stories!' Quincy laughed, and replied, 'I know. That's why I tell them to you.'

"As the night passed on, Jimmy eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep. But when morning came, everyone was in a panic. Jimmy asked the counselor what was going on, and he replied, 'Quincy is nowhere to be found. We think he may have run off last night.' Fear began to well up in the pit of Jimmy's stomach. He helped in the search for his best friend, but found no clues as to where he was. Nightfall came again, and Quincy still wasn't back. Everyone was asleep except for Jimmy. He was worried about his friend, so he decided to get up and look around once more. Grabbing a flashlight, he stepped out of bed and walked down the halls of the fairly large cabin. Just then, he heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby. Actually, it sounded like it was…right below him. He looked down and noticed one of the floorboards were crooked and rising up slightly. He took a deep breath and began to tear up the floorboard, gasping at what he saw underneath. It was a small, stone tablet with the words '_Quincy Nash. 1991-2006,'_ carved on it. And beside it…was a bloody knife."

When I was finished, Louis stared at me in what looked like amazement, and Bill still held his apathetic look.

"Woah…" Louis said. "So, that Quincy kid was the same kid that was brutally beaten and stabbed to death?"

I nodded. "Yup."

"Hm," Bill said. "Reminds me of 'nam. Except the war was much scarier. Kids, I could tell you stories that would give you screaming nightmares."

"Alright, let's hear one," Louis said. I mentally smacked myself and shook my head.

"Alright," Bill started. "It all started when I got drafted at age eighteen…"

I started dozing off almost immediately. Bill was a great old man, but his stories could put an insomniac to sleep in seconds. I heard little parts though, when I would stir awake from a bump on the road.

"…so there we were, all ten of us sitting in an underground tunnel, waiting for the perfect moment to…" Bill was saying, but I snoozed off again.

When I awoke, Bill was just finishing off his story. Louis had fallen asleep also.

"Hey, were you kids even listening?" Bill asked, annoyed.

Louis stirred awake and yawned. "Wha…oh! Sorry, Bill. I lost you at the part about the lubricants."

I blinked. Putting what Louis heard and what I heard together. A bunch of soldiers stuck in a tunnel together…and lubricants…I didn't even want to know.

Bill sighed and muttered, "Kids these days."

Just then, the car began to shake violently. Either we were on an extremely bumpy road…or we were finally back in Hell. I got my answer when I heard one of the soldier's voices over the radio on the roof of the car.

"Everyone, we're under attack! One of the tires has just been blown out by a Hunt—OH MY GOD!!!" His cries fell deaf and were replaced by a sickening gurgling sound.

"Everyone, get ready!" Bill said, moving over to wake Francis.

Francis snorted and rubbed his eyes. "What the hell? Are we there?"

"Come on, man, let's move!" Louis said, pulling Francis up.

The back of the car opened up—one of the soldiers must have pressed the button. The car was still moving though.

"Kids, we jump," Bill said.

"I don't know…" I said. I had never jumped out of a moving vehicle before.

"I'm with Gramps," Francis said. "We're dead if we don't do something."

"Okay," Louis said. "3…2…1…jump!"

And we did. We each hit the ground hard and started rolling. It was a good thing we were wearing the army suits, or the impact would probably be a lot worse. I could hear the car crash into something, but it didn't explode dramatically like in the movies.

I stood up to help my friends—they were more than just comrades to me now—up. Bill got up on his own, barely even hurt from the fall, since he was used to all that combat stuff. For a moment, I envied his skill.

I looked around. So here we were in Riverside. Back in Hell after a couple weeks of probably as close to a safe haven as we were going to get for a long time.

_Zack…where are you?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: It's mine! MWUAHAHA! My plan worked! I stole the rights to L4D! *Cop sirens are heard* Oh damn…AHHH!!!! *Gets knocked out* *Wakes up an hour later in a dark room* Ugh…where am I?...Aw! They took my friggin stolen rights back!**

**A/N: I probably won't be able to update again for a little while because I have to finish moving. It shouldn't take too long though, so don't worry. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed it so far, and will continue reading! =D**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 4: A Familiar Scent**

_**(Zack's P.O.V)**_

We'd been traveling for about two days now. And the cool part was we didn't really have to walk. Well, not Samantha and I at least. Clark carried us happily on his shoulders. We were becoming good friends fast. It was nice knowing a Tank who didn't try to kill us on sight.

"So, where are we headed?" Samantha asked.

"Well, we were heading west before, so why don't we just continue going that way?" I suggested.

"I'll go anywhere my little buddies want to go," Clark said happily.

I grinned. "Then to the west we shall go!"

"Hm...the next area going west is Riverside," Samantha pointed out. "It's really beautiful…or it was. I used to live there."

"Cool, then you can show us around," I said.

Clark quickened his pace. Samantha and I hung on tight as Clark pounded his fists into the ground and propelled himself forward with each passing second. It was almost like riding on a really bumpy roller coaster. We passed by a few common Infected, who looked at us oddly. What? Had they never seen a Hunter and a Witch riding a Tank like a giant gorilla?

It took us a couple hours, and we stopped a few times to take a break and hunt for food; that food being small animals that weren't dead yet. We finally arrived at a large trench, stopping our trip to Riverside. It looked like a river once flowed through it, but it was dried up now. It was too wide and too deep for even me to jump across, and I couldn't see another visible path for miles.

"Well, there goes our plan of going to Riverside," Samantha said.

I looked around for anything that could help. I then noticed a very tall, very thick tree. An idea popped into my head as I jumped off of Clark's back. "Hey, Clark, how strong are you?"

"Pretty strong," he replied with a grin, flexing his right arm. "Why?"

"Strong enough to knock down a tree?" I asked.

Clark directed his gaze at the large tree I was looking at. He grinned again. "No sweat, little buddie!"

He gently grabbed Samantha and placed her on the ground. She walked next to me as Clark walked over to the tree. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment. When he opened them again, he took a deep breath, cocked his massive fist back, and then punched the tree square in the middle, causing a tremor to move through the ground. The tree roots were torn from the earth and the tree itself leaned forward and then stopped mid-fall, its roots not yet ready to give up the fight. Clark simply flicked it with his index finger, and the tree continued its descent to the other side, crashing with a loud _'thump.'_ Clark grinned proudly at the makeshift bridge.

"Great job Clark!" I cheered.

"That was amazing!" Samantha said.

Clark rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, obviously not used to such flattering comments. He grabbed Samantha and I and put us back on his back as he ran across the fallen tree. We made it to the other side safely, and continued onward to Riverside. There were many trees in this part of Riverside, and it reminded me of Allegheny National Forest. And that reminded me of Zoey—not that I ever forgot about her. I needed to find her fast.

_Zoey…I wish I knew where you were,_ I thought sadly. _I can almost smell that wonderful cherry scent of yours right now…wait—_ I snapped out of my thoughts as something flowed into my nostrils. I _could_ smell Zoey's scent! I was sure of it!

"Clark!" I shouted. "Head that way!" I pointed northwest.

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Okay…any special reason?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I smell someone I've been looking for."

Samantha looked at me with an expression I couldn't quite pinpoint. "Is it your other friends?"

I nodded. "I'm sure of it."

Clark grinned. "Cool! The more the merrier! Let's go!"

We ran onward, through the trees, and over many mounds of dirt, rocks, and corpses. I was used to the sickening scenery around me. An amusing image of Bill saying "Reminds me of 'nam" popped into my mind. I started to chuckle lightly.

"What?" Samantha asked.

I shook my head. "Just thinking of Bill and his war stories."

"Bill?" Samantha repeated. "Oh, you mean that old guy I met back at the farm?"

"Yeah, him," I replied.

"What kind of Infected is he?" Clark asked.

I hesitated. What would Clark do if he knew my friends were human? Would his reaction be anything like Samantha's? "Uh…well, he's not really a—"

Suddenly, something loud resonated through the air. It sounded like a gunshot. I immediately thought about the fact that there are Infected here, and if Zoey and the others are really here, then they will be in danger. We needed to move fast.

"What was that?" Clark asked. "Maybe the sound of some new kind of Infected. Hey, maybe we can become friends!"

I laughed nervously. "Hopefully."

Just then, the smell of many rotting corpses flooded into my nostrils. I sighed, knowing exactly what that meant. _Massive army of the undead coming in 3…2…_—there was a loud chorus of screams—_Bingo!_

"Ungh…not again," Samantha groaned.

"What?" Clark asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Um…" I started, "…let's just say that horde's not going to be happy to see us."

Clark blinked. "Why wouldn't they be happy to—"

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound. We all looked down to see a normal, male Infected pinned beneath one of Clark's massive fists. Clark quickly lifted his hand up and looked at the Infected worriedly.

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry!" Clark said, leaning down to get closer. "I didn't see you there. Are you alright?"

Just then, the Infected growled and punched Clark in the face. Clark stumbled back a little, out of surprise rather then the force of the impact. He looked at the Infected in shock for a moment, before glaring at him and yelling, "Hey, what was that for?!"

I crouched and jumped off Clark's back, landing straight on the Infected and pinning him to the ground. I tore him apart with my claws as Samantha came up beside me. There were more Infected coming our way, and no time to lose.

Samantha sharpened her claws against one another. "Alright, let's take these guys out quickly."

"Um, guys?" Clark called to us, confused. "Why are we attacking our own kind?"

I smiled back at him nervously. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we need to take care of these guys."

Samantha sliced the heads off of two oncoming Infected. I crouched and jumped, bouncing from Infected to Infected, slashing them in quick succession. Clark didn't really understand what was going on, but he fought anyway. He swung his gigantic arms and took out numerous Infected. Suddenly, I heard a coughing noise, and that meant that a Smoker was nearby.

"Eek!" Samantha cried out as a long tongue wrapped around her body and began to pull her away. Her arms were tied up, so she couldn't simply slash the tongue up.

"Samantha!" I yelled as I crouched, getting ready to jump. Suddenly, many of the normal Infected came and dog piled me. I couldn't move while they were on top of me and kicking me.

"Ungh…Clark!" I shouted.

Clark, who was just knocking around a few Infected that were coming after him, turned to look at me. He immediately rushed up to me and knocked the Infected off. I got up and looked in the direction of where the Smoker dragged Samantha off.

"A Smoker got Samantha!" I said. "Come on!"

Clark and I ran after the Smoker, who now completely had Samantha wrapped up and close to him. He grabbed her and started running. I jumped from tree to tree to avoid the Infected down below, while Clark smashed through any pursuers. Just then, something large and hard smacked into me. I fell to the ground with a loud '_thump.'_ Clutching my side in pain, I staggered to my feet, looking around for whatever hit me. I noticed a large, wooden log lying on the ground next to me.

_What the hell?_ I thought. _Only Clark would be strong enough to throw something like that. But he wouldn't…_—a loud, angry roar echoed throughout the woods—_…Of course. Another Tank. Perfect._

I dodged a large chunk of ground that came flying at me. The unknown Tank came charging toward me, roaring and yelling as his fists pounded into the earth. Luckily, Clark intercepted him before he could get to me. The two Tanks' fists collided, and the impact made a sound much like thunder. As if things couldn't get any worse, trickles of rain began to fall from the ever darkening sky. Soon it began to pour.

I looked around, trying to find any sign of my blonde, Infected friend. I finally saw her being carried away by the Smoker. I growled and started to run after him. Just then, I noticed from the corner of my eyes that the Tank was pushing Clark closer to the trench we crossed earlier. I hesitated for a moment, my mind warring against two choices. I growled in frustration. Turning around, I ran back towards Clark. I crouched and pounced on the enemy Tank, distracting him long enough for Clark to land a punch directly to his face. I jumped off of him as the Tank stumbled backwards and tipped over the large trench, ending its life.

"That was close," Clark said. "Thanks little buddy."

I looked back to where Samantha was. She and the Smoker were gone. I fell to my knees and pounded the ground with my fists.

"No!" I yelled. "Damn it! She's gone."

Clark looked around. "Oh man! What do we do?"

I was torn between two choices. Go after Zoey, like I originally planned, or go after Samantha. This was the second time now I had to choose between them.

I sighed and got up, making my decision. "Clark…we've got a rescue mission."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: No…how could my plan fail? IT WAS FOOL PROOF!!! Left 4 Dead should be in my hands right now, but no…DAMN YOU BOB BARKER!!!**

**A/N: Um…yeah…about me taking forever to upload this chapter. Well, you see I was captured by an evil wizard and he made me drink a potion made of a crapload of responsibilities, a Titanic sized pile of viruses, and just a pinch of writers block. And then BAM! Ninjas saved me and brought me to my senses. So after all the craziness, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 5: Imprisoned**

_**(Samantha's P.O.V)**_

It was cold. Like I was in some sort of freezer. The Smoker that brought me here had tied me up and blindfolded me. Blood trickled down from my mouth to my chest from when he had hit me. I smiled though at the thought of what I did to him that made him hit me. If he was ever cured from this infection, he wouldn't be having children.

Suddenly, the sound of a rusty metal door screaming as it opened resonated throughout the room. I heard footsteps coming towards me, and then my eyes were flooded with light as the blindfold was ripped off. I glared up at the Smoker who had brought me here. His bloodshot eyes held no emotion as he stared back at me.

"I'll take things from here," a ragged voice said as another figure walked into the room. With that said, my kidnapper left.

As my eyes further adjusted to the light, I could make out the new figures features. He was another Smoker. He had a few less boils and scars than the other Smokers I'd seen; his spiky blue hair stood straight up, like needles; his cat-like, yellow eyes seemed to pierce right through me; he easily stood seven feet tall. He smiled crookedly, like some evil villain from a movie I'd seen before. I instantly hated him.

"Hello…Samantha, was it? Yes, that's what I heard your lover boy call you," he said as he kneeled down to my level.

I blushed lightly, turning my head away and scowling. I knew he was talking about Zack. "He's not my 'lover boy' or whatever you think," I replied. "We're not even friends. I'm just traveling with him for protection."

The Smoker 'tsk tsk'ed, shaking his head. "Now, now, you shouldn't lie to me. I'm not exactly the most patient man you'll ever meet."

I glared at him. "Gee, I didn't think real men were wussies who kidnapped little girls when they're trying to fight off said man's army of henchmen he hired to do the work for him because he's too much of a coward to do anything himself."

The Smoker's visible eye twitched slightly. I smirked in triumph, knowing I had hit a sore spot. Suddenly, he grabbed me by the hair and pulled me closer, smiling slightly.

"You're quite the little jabber mouth, aren't you? No doubt you got it from Zack."

I glared at him. "One; I've been sarcastic longer than I've been friends with him, and two; the fact that you have such a grudge against him must mean you're that bastard Jerry."

"Ah, so you've heard of me," Jerry said with a smirk. "And you admit that you're his friend."

My eyes widened, realizing the information I just told him. I inwardly cursed myself. "What's it to you, anyway?"

He let go of me and turned away, bringing his hand up to his chin in a thinking gesture. "I wonder how far he'd go to save you?"

I cast my eyes downward solemnly. Zack had too many problems on his hands. And he promised he would find _her_ again as soon as possible. He wouldn't choose me over her.

Jerry turned back to me with a large grin. "I wonder what he'll do when he is given an ultimatum."

I blinked. "W-What are you talking about?"

He rushed up to me, placing both hands on the armrests of the chair I was tied up to. His smile grew. "I'd like to play a little game with you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you, Jigsaw?"

He laughed, though not out of humor. Smoke from his mouth flew into my face and I coughed. He placed an arm around my neck, moving over to my side and leaning against me like we were old chums.

"You see, the way I see things, you and I aren't so different. We both want something, and would go to great lengths to get it," Jerry said.

I scowled. "You and I are nothing alike. Just what the hell are you talking about?"

He turned his ugly head to look at me. "You want him. Zack, I mean. I've been keeping a close I on you two. I know the way you look at him. And I know you want his pretty little girlfriend out of the picture."

I shook my head, astonished at the accusation. "I told you, Zack is only a friend! And even if I _did_ feel that way towards him, I would never wish anything bad upon Zoey!" I shut my mouth tight, realizing I'd just given out more information.

He smirked slightly. "If you're worried about me knowing her name, don't worry. I already knew it. I was there the day Zack tried to kill her."

My eyes widened. "W-What did you say?"

Jerry blinked. "You mean you didn't know? I mean, I thought he would've told you the real reason he wants to find her. I mean, wouldn't you want revenge on the person who broke your heart?"

I smirked, catching onto his little game. "If you're trying to turn me against Zack, you're dumber than you look."

Jerry sighed and got up, walking a few steps away. "I know you feel that Zack is a great person, but you must understand, I was friends with him long before you were. When I met him, he had just been transformed. He had no memories of his life before then. We had just started on our first hunt together when he saw her. Zoey.

"As his memories came flooding back, he began to fill up with rage. I tried to calm him down, but he just wouldn't listen. He ran after her like a savage beast, fueled by his anger. I followed him, but I couldn't comprehend the pain he felt when I saw him staring at the one he loved in the arms of another. That dark skinned man, Louis, had already stolen the young girl's heart. Zoey had crushed him once again.

"And so he captured Zoey and took her away from the other survivors. He planned on finishing her off in the dark forest of Allegheny, but his plans were interrupted. The other survivors had found him and fended him off. A nearly fatal blow to the head by Louis, and his memories were gone in a flash. They convinced him that they were all his good friends, and that he and Zoey had a perfect 'Ross and Rachel' relationship. Together, they had all set out to find a cure. Little did the survivors know, when I met up with Zack again, I set his memories straight. And now he's fooling those pathetic 'friends' of his that he's on their side."

I rolled my eyes. "You think some bullshit story will make me have a change of heart?"

Jerry shrugged. "Believe what you will, but that doesn't change the fact that he's dying inside. Soon, the hatred will eat him up, and he'll become nothing but a mindless killing machine. Unless…someone can save him."

"What do you mean?" I asked, still not buying his story.

He turned back toward me. "Zack wants revenge. I want world domination. And you want Zoey out of the picture. So bring the girl to me…and everyone is happy."

"Ugh! What don't you get?! I don't give a damn about her! Zack can love whoever he wants! And besides, why would you want her anyway? I think maybe _you're_ the one who has some sick obsession with her being 'out of the picture,'" I yelled.

Jerry smirked. "Something like that."

And then he was behind me. The ropes around me dropped and I was free. That is, until he snaked his slimy tongue around me. He lifted me up in the air and started walking out the door with me. It was still raining outside, and it was much darker now. He tossed me several feet away, making me slide across the muddy ground. I glared back at him, with shock that he actually let me go.

"Until we meet again, Samantha," he said as he slammed the metal door.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The writing format is a little different because I'm not using the same program as before. I used Word 2007, but now I'm using Word 2003 on my crappy laptop. Anywho, I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Alright, this is it, if I can't get the rights to Left 4 Dead this time, I'm giving up. This will be the last plan…and it WILL work. I'm going to have to…kill Valve. But do I have the guts to? Hmm…how do you kill a company name? Maybe…yes…YES! It's genius, genius, GENIUS I TELL YOU!**

**A/N: Eheheh…okay, I know you all probably hate me now because I said I'd get this chapter done sooner than last time, but come on, we all make promises we don't intend to keep, right? That's the whole point of getting married…well, not that we're married, but…hey, what are you all doing with those pitchforks and torches…no—hey, put them down…you know you don't want to do this…think of the children! Oh mother fu—*gets beaten near the brink of death with sharp objects***

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 6: Clouded Future**

_**(Zack's P.O.V)**_

We ran as fast as we could, kicking up mud and leaves on the ground. The rain had washed away the Smoker's tracks, but I could still smell the faint scent of smoke and blood. We were on the right trail.

"I hope…she's…alright…" Clark said, panting from the exhaustion of running for half an hour straight.

"She better be…or there's going to be one Smoker so shredded up even dental records won't be able to identify him," I said in a murderous tone.

The rain began to fall harder, and the sky darkened with the storm clouds above. Thunder boomed, and somewhere far away I could hear a tree cracking and falling to the ground. But not even the heavy storm could break my resolve to find Samantha.

After another five minutes of getting nowhere, I got frustrated. I climbed up a tall tree to try to get a better view of the area. All I saw were trees and a few roads about a mile up ahead, leading to what could possibly be a town. But no sign of a blonde Witch and a Smoker.

"Can you see anything?" Clark yelled from down below.

I sighed. "No, just trees. A lot of—huh? Clark! I think I see her!"

Just about a hundred yards up ahead, a lone Witch was wandering around with her arms wrapped around herself for warmth. I recognized her baggy pants and black jersey. It was definitely Samantha.

"Clark, come on!" I shouted as I jumped down from the tree and landed roughly on the ground.

We began running, shouting Samantha's name over and over again. The cold wind rushed passed me and howled through the trees. The steady drumming of Clark's footsteps behind me resonated in my ears. I could smell Samantha's scent of blood and daisies clearly now.

I could finally see her just up ahead. "Samantha!"

She turned her head slowly and her eyes widened. "Zack?"

I ran up to her and swept her up into my arms, swinging her around and holding onto her tight. "You're alive!"

"Ahh!" she screamed, "Z-Zack! Put me down!"

I put her back on her feet and grinned. "Sorry, I'm just glad you're safe."

Her cheeks reddened and she immediately looked down at her feet. "…You came for me."

I blinked. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I? You're my friend."

"I just thought…you'd choose Zoey," she replied.

I stared at her, and looked down in thought. "I wanted to go after her, but I can't just leave you behind. I care about you, too."

Samantha gave me a look I could've sworn I'd seen before, but couldn't name it. Before I knew it, her arms were wrapped around me in a tight embrace. She hid her face in the crook of my neck, and I felt something wet fall onto my skin.

"Thank you," was all she said.

I looked down at her and smiled as I held her close. I was glad she was safe.

_**(Zoey's P.O.V)**_

We gathered our supplies and headed north, following the abandoned road. Trees surrounded us on both sides, and cars were toppled over all down the road.

I carried Orion in one hand and a Desert Eagle in the other. I had six pipe bombs strapped to my side, and a sniper rifle on my back.

Bill was now armed with an AK-47, three grenades, a Magnum, and a knife.

Francis preferred using a combat shotgun, with two Desert Eagles, two pipe bombs, and two Molotovs.

The army had made Louis a specialized caste; it was thinner, but just as strong. He was able to easily wield a combat rifle, along with four pipe bombs, and a backpack full of medicinal supplies and food for a few days.

"Alright, everyone be on their guard," Bill said, holding his AK-47 in front of him and looking much like the young soldier he used to be. As usual, he took the role of the leader.

We followed his lead as we headed up the road, taking out Infected as they swarmed toward us. There was a bridge just up ahead, but it was broken in half, with many large chunks having fallen to the ground below. There was a small hill leading down below it that we were able to follow down and then get over to the other side via a steel ladder leading us back up.

When we got to the top, we looked around. Behind us, there was a large oil tanker on fire that must have caused a backup in traffic when the bridge had collapsed, due to there also being many cars smashed into it.

"There's a tunnel up ahead," Louis said, pointing to a long, dark tunnel with at least a hundred cars piled up in it.

I grimaced, not really wanting to know what lie in the darkness of the tunnel. "Is there any way around it?"

Bill lit up his signature cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Doesn't look like it, kid."

Francis was reloading his shotgun. "Psh! These damn vampires don't stand a chance against me."

"They're _zombies_, Francis," Bill corrected.

"Whatever," Francis said. "I'm still gonna kick their asses."

Bill started walking ahead. "Well, come on, then. Those scientists aren't gonna wait forever."

We followed suit, making our way through the dark tunnel with caution. We used our pistols—we didn't want to make too much noise—to take out any Infected that came our way. Whenever we came across a Hunter, I felt a sudden burst of excitement, thinking it might be Zack, but I was always disappointed. I couldn't stand being apart from him, not knowing whether he was okay or not.

_But at least he's not traveling alone,_ I thought.

It was odd, but when I thought of Zack traveling with that girl, Samantha, I felt a little…jealous. I knew that Zack would never cheat on me, but he and Samantha were the same. They were both Infected, while I was still human.

_She would be better for him,_ a part of me thought. But the other part of me knew that once we found the cure for the infection, Zack and I could live a normal life together, and everything would be okay.

_But what if he falls in love with her? What if we don't find each other again and he ends up forgetting all about me? No...Zack wouldn't do that…would he? Is that why he chose not to come with us back at the farm? No…it was because of _her._ Samantha. He didn't want to leave her behind. Does that mean he…NO! Zack and Samantha are just friends. Zack cares about all his friends._

I clutched my head, feeling a headache coming on as my mind waged war with itself. Louis looked at me with worry etched on his face.

"Hey, girl, you alright?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache from all that's going on."

"Well, I think I've got some aspirins in here," he said, starting to reach into his backpack.

"No, no, I'm fine," I reassured him. "I'm sure it'll pass soon."

Louis nodded and went back on the defensive, searching for any danger. As we traveled further, a light began shining from a door up ahead. We ran to it as fast as we could, hoping it might be a safe room, but it was just a pale green hallway. We ventured through it, going down a few flights of stairs and ending in a large, underground room with many doors.

"What do you think this place is?" Francis asked.

"Look's like an engine room," Louis said, gesturing to the two large power generators in the middle of the room. "For lighting up the tunnel."

"Well, it's not doing a good job, then," Francis said, walking around a little.

"Alright, everybody check the rooms for anything useful," Bill ordered. "We need to find a safe house before it gets completely dark out."

The four of us split up and searched the rooms. They were dimly lit, and pretty small. The one I decided to search was just about as big as two closets, and it held a table with a red fuel tank and a Molotov. Nothing too useful, and I didn't really have much room for the Molotov, so I began to exit the room.

That's when I saw a massive shadow on the floor; it was waving back and forth slowly, like a giant serpent. I snapped my head toward a tunnel exit on a ledge above us, but didn't see anything. When I looked back at the floor, the shadow was gone.

I rubbed my eyes. _Am I seeing things?_

"Hey, did anyone find anything?" Bill called out as he walked out of a room, holding a couple bottles of pain pills.

"I found some ammo," Louis said, passing out bullet rounds to everyone as Bill packed the pills into his backpack.

"I found something even better," Francis said, holding a porn magazine and flipping through the pages.

I glared at him. "Francis! This is serious."

Francis shrugged and tossed the magazine into a corner. "So, what'd you find?"

I sighed. "Nothing all that useful."

Just then, we heard a chorus of screams and moans coming from the exit. Footsteps were steadily approaching and a Boomer could be heard gurgling and burping.

Bill took one last drag from his cigarette and stamped it out on the floor, exhaling smoke as he did. "Damn it. Here we go again."

As the first few Infected made their way into the room, we fired away, making sure none of them got over the ledge. Their numbers soon became greater, and we really didn't have time for this. I then remembered the surplus of pipe bombs I had strapped to my side. I mentally kicked myself for not remembering earlier.

"How about we do this the easy way," I said grabbing a pipe bomb and activating it. I chucked it hard over the Infected. "Fetch!"

The horde of Infected followed the beeping red light that flashed from the antennae of the pipe bomb and soon found themselves blown to pieces. We all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nice one, Zoey," Louis said.

"Thank God for the military," Bill stated. "Well, let's keep moving. I bet we're near a safe house."

We climbed up the ladder to the top part of the room and exited. I felt the cool rush of wind on my face as we stepped outside. The sky was twilit now. We were surrounded by a chain link fence, but there was an opening that we were able to get through.

As Bill had predicted, there was a safe house just up a hill. We hurried on up to it and locked the door behind us. We had survived another day in Hell.

_And still no sign of Zack._


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Heh...heheheh...HAHAHAHAHAHAH! I did it! I finally did it! Valve is DEAD! Left 4 Dead is mine! MWUAHAHAHAHA! *Takes a long, undeserved triumphant sniff* Ahhh...do you smell that? It's the smell of victory...and a lawsuit...but mainly victory. Yes...hehehe...victory!**

Until I Find My Way Back To You

_Book 2: Death Toll_

**Chapter 7: Guarded Secrets**

_**(Zack's P.O.V)**_

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked Samantha for the tenth time in the past three hours that we had been traveling through the woods. We were close to a town now, so we could probably find somewhere to rest up soon.

"Yes, Zack, I'm fine," she replied, sounding a little annoyed. She smiled at me. "Really. All he did was talk to me."

"Well, what did he say?" I asked.

"Like I said before, he only tried to tell me some random bullshit to get me on his side," she explained. "There's no way I'd believe him anyway."

I sighed. "Sorry, I'm just confused. It's really…unlike him. I mean, he just _let_ you go. Without a fight or anything."

"Well, that's good, right?" Clark added to the conversation. "He didn't hurt my little buddy, so I'm fine with it."

I scratched the back of my head and smiled. "I guess you're right. Let's just keep going. We're almost to Riverside."

We didn't speak much more as we ran swiftly through the forest, passing several broken trees and even a few cars that people had tried to use to get out of the woods—I tried not to look at the gutted and half-eaten corpses of said people, whose arms still clung to the steering wheels for dear life. It wasn't long before we came to a clearing…if you could call it that. There were trains broken down everywhere. A couple of tall watch towers were stationed at the east and west ends of the area. There was a water tower next to a small red building, and what appeared to be another large building with a wooden deck that led over a white barb-wire fence.

I sniffed the air. There were only normal Infected here, nothing we couldn't handle. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up the scent of cherries….

Sticking to the shadows so that the Infected didn't see us right away, we made our way along the white fence, past the various upturned trains, and toward the large building with a wooden deck. We climbed up a staircase and stopped on top of the deck. Two regular Infected were sitting cross-legged ten feet in front of us, attempting to play what looked like poker. One of them was chewing on half a deck of cards, and the other was wearing a pair of pink women's underwear on his head like a hat.

The three of us exchanged looks that clearly asked the question "What the hell?" and stared at the two Infected for a few moments.

Seeing as they were in the way, Clark, being the gentle Tank he was, politely grabbed them and relocated them to a safe spot inside one of the building's rooms. He then came back out, and we continued on our way.

"You know, I think those zombies might have been high," Samantha suggested.

"I'm just glad I didn't have to hurt them," Clark said.

"Weird though, how they didn't even notice us," I stated, then shrugged. "Meh, two less zombies we have to worry about."

"Hey! Uh, you three, stop!"

We turned around and noticed that the two poker-playing zombies had come back out of the room, wobbling in place slightly, and glaring at us.

I blinked. "Um, can we help you?"

"Yeah bro," the Infected with panties on his head said. "You like, can't pass, and stuff."

"Yeah!" the other one joined in. "We're guards, man!"

Samantha leaned in toward me. "A little slow, aren't they?"

But I barely heard her. "Guards? Says who?"

The panty-head Infected looked like he was thinking really, really hard. "Um…it was like, that guy, you know?"

"Yeah, that Smoker dude," the other one said. "Jeremy, or something."

I knew they were talking about Jerry. "What are you guarding?"

"Psh! We're not telling you about the Church Guy!" Panty-Head replied defiantly.

"Jesus?" Samantha asked.

The card-chewing Infected looked over at his buddy. "Um, dude, is that the guy we're not supposed to tell them about?"

"No man, the other guy," Panty-Head replied. "You know, the guy who's supposedly immune, and the boss man has been experimenting on, and told us to guard so that those four survivor dudes don't interfere?"

A look of realization crossed Card-Chewer's face. "Oh! Yeah, like, that guy!"

"Yeah, we're not gonna tell you about that guy," Panty-Head said, turning back toward us.

We stared blank-faced at these two, wondering if Jerry had been serious when picking them as guards.

I decided to have a little fun. "Well, can we pass?" I asked, indicating to the set of stairs we had just come from.

Panty-Head shook his head. "No way, bro. It's like, off limits."

"Oh, well, that's a shame, isn't it guys?" I asked my friends. Samantha and Clark nodded, playing along.

"I guess we'll just have to go this way then," Samantha said, pointing her thumb back toward the fence that we needed to cross.

"That's right, you guys buzz off," Card-Chewer stated. "Or we'll have to like, fight you, and stuff."

I held up my hands defensively. "Oh no, we wouldn't want that. Come on guys, let's go."

Samantha, Clark, and I crossed over the fence and landed on an abandoned street. We vaguely heard the two Infected shouting about what awesome guards they were, and we laughed.

"Yep, they were stoned," Samantha said.

"Hm…but what they said…do you think it's true?" Clark asked as we walked down the road. "About there being a survivor up ahead who was experimented on?"

"I don't know," I replied. "But if Jerry's involved, then yeah, probably."

"Do you think it's one of your friends?" Samantha whispered to me, making sure Clark didn't hear. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who wondered if Clark had a problem with non-Infected.

"I really hope not," I replied in a low voice. I didn't want to think that one of my friends could possibly be in danger. But the two stoner Infected _did_ talk about this survivor being immune. Were my friends immune? Probably. They had been attacked and wounded several times. If they weren't immune, then they'd surely be Infected by now.

_**(Zoey's P.O.V.)**_

Our food supply hadn't lasted as long as we hoped. We only spent the night in the last safe room we had found, and then we were off again, this time making our way through the sewers. We did, of course, have some rations, but those were only to be used as a last resort. If we could find any food that had been left behind by previous survivors, we were to eat that first. Besides, the sooner we got to those scientists, the better.

It was cold, dark, and wet in the sewers. The light from our flashlights just barely pierced the darkness enough for us to see up to fifteen feet in front of us. We stayed close together, with Bill leading the way through a large, damp, gray pipe. There was sunlight up ahead, shining through a large hole in the pipe—we took this opportunity to shot a good handful of Infected that had decided to camp out a couple yards ahead of us.

As we traveled further into the sewer, the pipe ended, and we were forced to jump down to a lower level. We were standing on a metal catwalk that ran all the way around the circular room.

Just then, we heard the growl of a Hunter. My heart leapt in my chest. _Zack?_

"Careful, he's down there." Louis pointed down at the floor, forty feet below us.

A Hunter crawled beside the wall, creeping toward two regular Infected that were fighting over who got to eat the arm of the dead corpse they were standing over. Suddenly, the Hunter pounced, slicing the Infecteds' heads off in one swift motion. It then proceeded to sniff the corpse, and then dig into it.

Zoey grimaced at the sight. She sighed, taking aim at the Hunter with her sniper rifle, and ending its cursed life in the next second.

"I swear, I'll never get used to the sight of cannibalism," Louis said, holding his stomach like he was nauseas.

Bill puffed out a cloud of smoke from the cigarette in his mouth. "Well, kid, if this cure's the real deal, you won't have to. Now come on, this way!"

Bill lead the way down a metal ladder, to the lower level where Francis proceeded to loot the corpse for supplies while the rest of us took out a few more regular Infected.

"Hey, check this out!" Francis called as he held up a sheet of paper. "Toilet paper!"

Bill narrowed his eyes. "Hold on, let me see that." He walked up to Francis and took the paper from him, looking down at it. "This isn't toilet paper, you moron."

I walked over to him, taking a look at the paper as well. He handed it to me. "Hey, this looks like a page from a journal."

"Probably a report," said Louis, looking over a name tag as he examined the corpse as well. "Guy's name is Richard Faust. This tag says he was a scientist at Walker Industries."

"Walker Industries?" I questioned. "Never heard of it."

"Wouldn't expect you to," said Francis. "It's a fairly small business, or rather they're just not very well known. The place is kinda shady."

The rest of us blinked in surprise. Francis knew about something we didn't? Something in the business industry for that matter?

"Francis, how do you know about that place?" I asked.

Francis took a seat next to the corpse, like it was an old pal of his. "It's a place where they do all kinds of experiments, looking for cures for certain illnesses in ways that the government wouldn't allow. They pay off bounty hunters to capture criminals, then do tests on 'em. If a wanted man went missing off the face of the earth all of a sudden, you could bet Walker Industries had him.

"I heard about 'em from a buddy of mine. Said they were working on a cure for leukemia, but needed a test subject. He said they were about ninety percent sure it would work. So he gave me the address, and I took my grandpa there."

"Your grandpa had cancer?" Louis asked, now leaning against the wall as Bill paced around keeping guard.

"Yup," Francis replied. "He was the last family member I had left, so I wanted to do all I could to keep him alive. When I had heard about Walker Industries, I thought it was the answer. When I got there, a bunch of guys in white coats and masks took Gramps into a back room. I had to wait in the lobby.

"It was about two hours after that when I heard a scream. A couple of lab guys ran out into the lobby. They were bleeding, and one of 'em had an arm missing. I started freakin' out, wondering if I'd been drinking too much. Then Gramps came running into the lobby like a bat outta Hell, screaming and clutching the other guy's arm in his hand. I watched him beat the two men to death with the arm, and then he…he started eating them.

"I knew that whatever they had done to him, it sure as hell didn't cure his leukemia. He wasn't my Gramps anymore. And so I killed him myself." Francis stared off into space, and suddenly gave a weak laugh. And then a single tear rolled down his cheek—I never thought I'd live to see the day when Francis cried. "So I guess you could say, all this shit…" he gestured to the Infected corpses lying around, "…happened because of me."

The all-consuming silence that followed for what seemed like an eternity was only broken by Bill. "Kid, if it wasn't you, they'd have just found another person to fool. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner." He spat out his previous cigarette and took out another one. As he lit a match, he asked. "Just out of curiosity, what was your grandfather's name?"

"James," Francis replied. "James Vanhausen Russell. But everyone called him 'JR.'"

Bill's cigarette dropped to the ground. For a moment, I was sure that I had seen a look of shock cross over his face, but it was too dark, and if I had seen it, it was gone the next second.

"Damn," Bill said, kicking the dampened cigarette away and pulling out another quickly.

"Yo, Bill, you alright?" Louis asked.

"I'm fine!" Bill snapped. His voice was shaky though. "Come on, we don't have time to waste here."

I pocketed the journal entry, deciding to read it later, and hurried to catch up to Bill, who was now wandering through the sewers with a troubled expression on his face.

We came to a large, square room. The floor was covered in sewer water and, of course, blood. There were two upper decks on either side of the room, but only one was currently accessible. A big, yellow, metal bridge was raised high into the air by another machine, and was obviously meant to be lowered for people to get across to the other deck.

"Alright, everybody look for a switch or something that will lower that bridge," Bill ordered.

We climbed a ladder up to the accessible deck, and looked around. It was Louis who managed to find a small control panel on the wall. He flipped the switch, and the bridge creaked and groaned loudly as he began to lower.

"Shit," Bill swore. "That's sure to attract a horde."

Sure enough, a chorus of screams and moans filled the tunnel, and zombies came piling into the room. Not wanting to waste too much ammo, I quickly activated another pipe bomb and chucked it. A large mass of the Infected were blown to bits, and we fired away at the remaining bunch. About thirty seconds later, the bridge was finally lowered, and we sped across to the other deck. Francis blew the heads off a couple of Infected that thought it would be a good idea to climb up and follow us across.

"This way!" Bill shouted, and we all followed him into another tunnel.

There was a Boomer and a Smoker in this tunnel, but Louis managed to shove the Boomer into said Smoker and fire a bullet straight into the fatty's stomach, forcing it to explode on the Smoker. And then something happened that we had never seen before. Regular Infected began swarming in on the Smoker and beating it senseless, just like they would have if we had been the ones vomited on.

"My God," Bill said, astounded. "Zombies just hate Boomer Bile in general, regardless of who it gets on."

"Maybe we can use it as a weapon," Louis suggested, helping Francis and I finish off the remaining Infected in the area. He reached into the supply bag and pulled out a nearly empty water bottle. Finishing off its contents, he walked over to the Boomer's corpse and scooped up some of the leftover bile, grimacing at the smell. He quickly capped the bottle and stuck it back in the bag.

"Okay, that was disgusting," I said. "But, whatever works."

We followed the tunnel into another square room with many metal pillars supporting the ceiling, and found a set of stairs leading up to an upper room. In the upper room, we found shelves with many old books, tools, and broken lab vials. And there was crying coming from a corner of the room.

"Witch," Louis whispered needlessly.

"Everyone just stay calm, and keep low," Bill instructed.

We moved slowly toward a door that would surely lead us outside. I kept looking around to see if I could catch a glimpse of the Witch. It was dark in here, with the only light coming from the moon through a broken ceiling window. The crying was still soft, but seemed to be getting closer. Were we moving toward the Witch? God, I hoped not.

"Oof! Sorry, Francis," Louis said, having obviously run into someone.

"I'm over here, dude," Francis replied from ahead of me.

"Uh…Bill?" Louis said in a shaky voice.

"Right here, kid," Bill said from somewhere close to Francis.

"Zoey?" Louis voice was little more than a squeaky whisper.

"It wasn't me," I said, now just as scared as Louis.

And then we got our answer. It came in the form of an angry growl.

"To the exit! Hurry!" Bill shouted.

We ran to the door, the growls becoming shrieks behind us. Bill didn't even bother reaching for the handle; he kicked it down like it had wronged him in every possible way. We made it outside and began hauling ass around the building. We came to a small clearing, with just a couple of toppled cars and a few regular Infected standing around. Bill and Francis shot the regular Infected to clear a path, while Louis and I fired back at the Witch. I could have sworn Witches didn't run this fast before.

"Safe house up ahead!" Bill yelled. "In that building!"

There was a building up ahead with a few smashed-in glass windows. We hurried on through, and crossed over a short metal walkway to get to the safe room. But just as Bill and Francis made it through, we heard Louis scream.

I looked back and saw Louis hit the floor hard, with four large gashes in his back. The Witch straddled his waist and raised a sharp claw high into the air.

I don't know what it was, but something came over me. I lunged at her, much like a Hunter would, and tackled the Witch to the ground. I swung my gun and bashed her face in. Over. And over. And over….

"Zoey!" Bill shouted as he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back. "Zoey, stop! It's over! She's dead!"

I came back to my senses and stared down at the bloody mess that had once been a Witch's face. My breathing was erratic, and I began to cough. "S-Sorry. I don't know what came over me. Is Louis okay?"

"Ow…" Louis groaned. "I…I'll be fine. It just stings."

Bill helped both me and Louis get to our feet. He slung Louis's arm over his shoulder and walked him to the safe room. "Come on, kid. Let's get you bandaged up."

As we got into the safe room, Francis gawked at me. "Damn…remind me never to piss you off again."

"Oh, shut up," I replied. I was _really_ not in the mood. But why had I gotten that angry at a Witch? Sure, she had just injured my friend, but I could have just shot her in the head…did I really have to _bash her face in_?

Man, I need some sleep.


End file.
